The present invention deals with sewage treatment. More particularly, the present invention deals with a baffle system for directing flow in an anaerobic sewage treatment pond and the stabilization of a cover layer on the water surface.
One way in which sewage is presently disposed of involves biologically decomposing undesirable waste materials within the sewage. Anaerobic micro-organisms within the sewage in a sewage treatment pond are allowed to break down organic and inorganic matter. In addition, a cover or mat of organic and/or inert matters, covers the surface of the sewage treatment pond.
Anaerobic sewage treatment ponds suffer from a variety of problems. First, wind and wave action can remove the cover of organic and/or inert matters from the pond, or move it to one side of the pond. With the cover removed from the pond, gases which are produced during the anaerobic treatment process are released thereby disseminating undesirable odors in the pond area. Further, the anaerobic treatment process is temperature dependent. Therefore, if the cover is removed from the pond, heat from the pond is lost in cooler climates. This reduces the effectiveness of the sewage treatment process.
Another problem with prior anaerobic sewage treatment ponds is that wind and wave action on the pond causes erosion of the banks or berms of the pond. This increases the cost of maintaining the pond.
Also, until now, multiple cell anaerobic ponds were normally comprised of a multitude of individual ponds. These individual ponds were required in order to establish the desired current flow within the ponds to adequately treat the sewage. Since multiple ponds were required, the sewage treatment process had multiplicative construction costs because a number of substantially identical ponds needed to be excavated and constructed.
In addition, each of the ponds is lined with a pond lining material. Since multiple ponds were required, the square footage for the multiple liners was increased. Therefore, the lining costs were increased.